Teaching Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander History Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3434 To authorize the Secretary of Education to award grants to eligible entities to carry out educational programs that include the history of peoples of Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander descent in the settling and founding of America, the social, economic, and political environments that led to the development of discriminatory laws targeting Asians, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders and their relation to current events, and the impact and contributions of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders to the development and enhancement of American life, United States history, literature, the economy, politics, body of laws, and culture, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 17, 2023 Ms. MENG (for herself, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. BOWMAN, Ms. BUSH, Mr. CARSON, Mr. CASE, Ms. CHU, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Mr. GOTTHEIMER, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. GRI- JALVA, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. JACOBS, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. KILMER, Mr. KIM of New Jersey, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. LYNCH, Ms. MATSUI, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. MULLIN, Mr. NADLER, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. NORTON, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Ms. OMAR, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. POCAN, Ms. PORTER, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. STRICKLAND, Mr. TAKANO, Ms. TOKUDA, Mrs. TRAHAN, Mr. TRONE, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, and Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce A BILL To authorize the Secretary of Education to award grants to eligible entities to carry out educational programs that include the history of peoples of Asian, Native Ha- VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:57 Jun 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H3434.IH H3434 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3434 IH waiian, and Pacific Islander descent in the settling and founding of America, the social, economic, and political environments that led to the development of discrimina- tory laws targeting Asians, Native Hawaiians, and Pa- cific Islanders and their relation to current events, and the impact and contributions of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders to the development and enhancement of American life, United States history, literature, the economy, politics, body of laws, and cul- ture, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Teaching Asian Amer- 4 ican, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander History Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) The United States has benefitted from the 8 integral role Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, 9 and Pacific Islanders have played in our Nation’s 10 history and contributions to the world. 11 (2) The Pacific Island Territories of Guam, 12 American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the 13 Northern Mariana Islands and all of the Pacific Is- 14 lands including Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia 15 have unique histories that are often overlooked in 16 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:57 Jun 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3434.IH H3434 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3434 IH American history despite their immense contribu- 1 tions to our Nation. 2 (3) The traditional American history curriculum 3 for kindergarten through grade 12 continues to be 4 taught from a Eurocentric point of view and ex- 5 cludes histories of racist immigration laws relevant 6 to policies today. 7 (4) Social studies textbooks for kindergarten 8 through grade 12 poorly represent Asian Americans, 9 Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders, overlook 10 the diversity within those communities, and print 11 images of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and 12 Pacific Islanders in stereotypical roles. 13 (5) The Federal Government, through support 14 for educational activities of national museums estab- 15 lished under Federal law, can assist teachers in ef- 16 forts to incorporate historically accurate instruction 17 on the comprehensive history of Asian Americans, 18 Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders and assist 19 students in their exploration of Asian American, Na- 20 tive Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander history as an in- 21 tegral part of American history. 22 (6) The history of America’s system of immi- 23 gration is rife with racism, embedded with goals of 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:57 Jun 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3434.IH H3434 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3434 IH hiring workers to work for cheaper wages and labor 1 in heinous working conditions. 2 (7) Congress has continuously passed anti- 3 Asian laws as the result of the scapegoating of Asian 4 immigrant laborers for economic downturns in the 5 United States. 6 (8) The history of South Asian Americans in 7 the United States dates back to the late 1700s. 8 (9) The history of Native Hawaiians and Pa- 9 cific Islanders in what is now considered to be the 10 United States predates the founding of our Nation. 11 (10) In 1993, Congress passed a joint resolu- 12 tion that was signed into law formally apologizing 13 for the role of the United States in the illegal over- 14 throw of the Kingdom of Hawaii, which resulted in 15 the suppression of the inherent sovereignty of the 16 Native Hawaiian people. 17 (11) Twelve thousand Chinese laborers worked 18 in atrocious conditions to build the Transcontinental 19 Railroad, many dying from harsh weather conditions 20 and the dangers of handling explosives. 21 (12) The Page Act of 1875, the first restrictive 22 immigration law in the United States, sought to pre- 23 vent the entry of Asian women perceived as immoral 24 or suspected of prostitution. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:57 Jun 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3434.IH H3434 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3434 IH (13) After the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 1 banned Chinese immigrants from immigrating to the 2 United States, Japanese immigrants were hired. 3 After the Japanese were banned from immigrating 4 due to the Gentleman’s Agreement of 1907, which 5 halted immigration from Japan, Filipino immigrants 6 were hired under 3-year contracts. 7 (14) Filipino farm workers helped found the 8 farm worker labor movement in the United States. 9 (15) The Immigration Act of 1917 restricted 10 immigration to the United States by barring immi- 11 gration from the Asia-Pacific zone. 12 (16) The Immigration Act of 1924 set a na- 13 tional origin quota to deter immigration. 14 (17) President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Execu- 15 tive Order 9066 authorized the incarceration of 16 more than 120,000 persons of Japanese ancestry, 17 two-thirds of whom were American citizens, based 18 solely on race. 19 (18) Beginning in 1954, the United States dis- 20 placed more than 3,000,000 refugees from Cam- 21 bodia, Laos, and Vietnam due to covert and overt 22 United States military operations in Southeast Asia. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:57 Jun 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3434.IH H3434 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3434 IH (19) The Immigration Act of 1965 made family 1 unification and skills-based migration the bedrock 2 principle of immigration to the United States. 3 (20) The nuclear testing conducted by the 4 United States on the Bikini and Enewetak Atoll of 5 the Marshall Islands has made parts of the island 6 nation uninhabitable and caused forced migration 7 and health complications that still impact the com- 8 munity today. 9 (21) The United States ratified a Compact of 10 Free Association with the Federated States of Mi- 11 cronesia, Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the 12 Republic of Palau enabling citizens of these Pacific 13 Island nations to legally migrate to the United 14 States visa-free while the United States retains cer- 15 tain strategic military rights over their territorial 16 waters. 17 (22) In the aftermath of the Vietnam War, the 18 Refugee Act of 1980 helped more than 500,000 19 Southeast Asians gain permanent resident status in 20 the United States within the first decade of its pas- 21 sage. 22 (23) The Pacific Islander community represents 23 the largest concentration of any ethnic group en- 24 listed in the United States military, as well as rep- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:57 Jun 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3434.IH H3434 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3434 IH resenting the highest numbers of casualties in recent 1 wars. 2 (24) The ‘‘model minority’’ myth perpetuates 3 the stigma of Asian Americans as perpetual for- 4 eigners, and such stereotypes are used to pit minor- 5 ity groups against one another. 6 (25) The pattern of hate crimes and hate inci- 7 dents directed at Asians and Asian Americans has 8 repeated itself throughout history. 9 (26) Asian American and African American his- 10 tories of fighting against oppression and racism are 11 intertwined, from the Black Power Movement of the 12 1960s that birthed the Asian American Movement to 13 civil rights protests in present day. 14 (27) Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and 15 Pacific Islanders and their allies continue to fight 16 discrimination, racial prejudice, hate crimes, 17 scapegoating, structural racism, economic inequities, 18 and benign and overt omission of the integral role 19 they played in the development of this Nation. 20 SEC. 3. AMERICAN HISTORY AND CIVICS EDUCATION. 21 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—Section 2231(a) of the 22 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 23 U.S.C. 6661(a)) is amended— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:57 Jun 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3434.IH H3434 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3434 IH (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 1 inserting ‘‘, which shall include Asian American, Na- 2 tive Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander history,’’ after 3 ‘‘American history’’; and 4 (2) in paragraph (2)— 5 (A) by inserting ‘‘which shall include Asian 6 American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Is- 7 lander history,’’ after ‘‘American history,’’; and 8 (B) by inserting ‘‘, which shall include 9 Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific 10 Islander history’’ after ‘‘traditional American 11 history’’. 12 (b) PRESIDENTIAL AND CONGRESSIONAL ACADEMIES 13 FOR AMERICAN HISTORY AND CIVICS.—Section 2232 of 14 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 15 U.S.C. 6662) is amended— 16 (1) in subsection (c)(1), by inserting ‘‘, which 17 shall include Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and 18 Pacific Islander history,’’ after ‘‘American history’’; 19 (2) in subsection (e)— 20 (A) in paragraph (1)— 21 (i) in the matter preceding subpara- 22 graph (A), by inserting ‘‘, which shall in- 23 clude Asian American, Native Hawaiian, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:57 Jun 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3434.IH H3434 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3434 IH and Pacific Islander history,’’ after ‘‘Amer- 1 ican history’’; 2 (ii) in subparagraph (A)— 3 (I) by inserting ‘‘, which shall in- 4 clude Asian American, Native Hawai- 5 ian, and Pacific Islander history,’’ 6 after ‘‘teachers of American history’’; 7 and 8 (II) by inserting ‘‘, which shall 9 include Asian American, Native Ha- 10 waiian, and Pacific Islander history,’’ 11 after ‘‘subjects of American history’’; 12 and 13 (iii) in subparagraph (B), by inserting 14 ‘‘, which shall include Asian American, Na- 15 tive Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander his- 16 tory,’’ after ‘‘American history’’; 17 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘, which 18 shall include Asian American, Native Hawaiian, 19 and Pacific Islander history,’’ after ‘‘American 20 history’’; and 21 (C) in paragraph (4), by inserting ‘‘, and 22 with the Smithsonian Institution’s Asian Pacific 23 American Center to provide programs and re- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:57 Jun 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3434.IH H3434 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3434 IH sources for educators and students’’ after ‘‘Na- 1 tional Parks’’; and 2 (3) in paragraph (1) of subsection (f)— 3 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 4 (A), by inserting ‘‘including Asian American, 5 Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander history’’ 6 after ‘‘American history’’; 7 (B) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘, 8 which shall include Asian American, Native Ha- 9 waiian, and Pacific Islander history,’’ after 10 ‘‘American history’’; and 11 (C) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘‘, 12 which shall include Asian American, Native Ha- 13 waiian, and Pacific Islander history,’’ after 14 ‘‘American history’’. 15 (c) NATIONAL ACTIVITIES.—Section 2233 of the Ele- 16 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 17 6663) is amended— 18 (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘which shall 19 include Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pa- 20 cific Islander history,’’ after ‘‘American history,’’; 21 and 22 (2) in subsection (b)— 23 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 24 by inserting ‘‘which shall include Asian Amer- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:57 Jun 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3434.IH H3434 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3434 IH ican, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander his- 1 tory,’’ after ‘‘American history,’’; and 2 (B) in paragraph (1)(A), by inserting 3 ‘‘which shall include Asian American, Native 4 Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander history,’’ after 5 ‘‘American history,’’. 6 (d) NATIONAL ASSESSMENT OF EDUCATIONAL 7 PROGRESS.—Section 303(b)(2)(D) of the National As- 8 sessment of Educational Progress Authorization Act (20 9 U.S.C. 9622(b)(2)(D)) is amended by inserting ‘‘(which 10 shall include Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pa- 11 cific Islander history)’’ after ‘‘history’’. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:57 Jun 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3434.IH H3434 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS